Are you going to tow with this car often? See if someone makes a front
hitch for it. Or, yo can get a weight distributing hitch and put some
of the weight back on the front wheels.

I towed a 1500lb boat and trailer with a FWD car and had little
issues. Just do not apply to much gas.

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message ...
I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

I may have a similar issue to deal with this year. I keep a boat (21' Carolina skiff)
in a neighborhood with a boat ramp. Travel from my place to the ramp
is 3 blocks. I'd like to *attempt* to load and unload the boat with my
Honda Accord. (try not to laugh). It would keep me from driving
a gas guzzler to/from said beach place (approx. 160 miles) *and*
keep me from having to leave a pickup truck down there solely for
that purpose which is what I did last year. I don't think loading the
boat into the water would be a problem. I like to shuttle back/forth
to the beach house in the Honda for obvious reasons.

The ramp is not very steep and there's very little tongue weight by
the trailer.. Ramp wetness would probably be an issue.

Falling tide = wet ramp
Rising tide = dry ramp. (most of the time when I would use it)

db~still trying to decide if this is a good idea.

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
...
I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

One big problem with the front wheel drive is... the tongue weight way back
on your hitch makes the front end of the tow vehicle lighter....reducing
traction.
I towed a 2200lb sailboat/trailer combo with a Plymouth Voyager 3.0 liter V6
and 3 speed auto transmission without problem.
As others said...any seaweed exposed at low tide must be raked to the side.

On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 09:36:23 -0700 (PDT), "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:

I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

I pulled a 15' Whaler with a VW Jetta for about three years. It pulled it
very well, and never had a problem getting the boat out of the water.
Usually the pavement is dry where the front wheels are, so you're not
fighting slick stuff. If I were you, I'd not worry about the front wheel
drive bit too much.
--
John *H*
(Not the other one!)

On Apr 1, 3:51*pm, "D-unit" wrote:
wrote in ...

On Apr 1, 2:37 pm, "D-unit" wrote:





"Robert M. Gary" wrote in ...

I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

I may have a similar issue to deal with this year. I keep a boat (21' Carolina skiff)
in a neighborhood with a boat ramp. Travel from my place to the ramp
is 3 blocks. I'd like to *attempt* to load and unload the boat with my
Honda Accord. (try not to laugh). It would keep me from driving
a gas guzzler to/from said beach place (approx. 160 miles) *and*
keep me from having to leave a pickup truck down there solely for
that purpose which is what I did last year. I don't think loading the
boat into the water would be a problem. I like to shuttle back/forth
to the beach house in the Honda for obvious reasons.

The ramp is not very steep and there's very little tongue weight by
the trailer.. Ramp wetness would probably be an issue.

Falling tide = wet ramp
Rising tide = dry ramp. (most of the time when I would use it)

db~still trying to decide if this is a good idea.

See my above post... Wind = wet ramp, lot's of traffic does too.
Washed up vegitation, mud, and anything else you can think of makes
for what you are calling "wet ramp", too...

Sliding back down the ramp into the water is not a pleasant thought.

db- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OH, it sucks, lemme' tell ya'

On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 09:36:23 -0700 (PDT), "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:

I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

Well, think about it. You have 3,000 lbs hanging off the back with
4/500 lbs of tongue weight on a incline that might be slippery with
vegetation, water, etc. The weight of a small engine over the wheels
isn't going to make much of a difference. Add in how much time you
have on the tires, the tread pattern, etc. I don't know about the
Vue, but it probably has "traction" control - you might want to check
if you can turn it off because if you can't, you will lose engine
power if the tires start to slip and you wont' be going anywhere.

The chances of having problems is very high given the right
circumstances.

I could go off on a towing rant here, but I will refrain.

I'm adopting a new philosophy - to each their own. :)

On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:03:52 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Apr 1, 12:36*pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

A big variable with front wheel drive cars is the incline of the ramp.
If the ramp is steep you'll get less traction. Other variables are
total weight of boat, tongue weight, what the ramp is (concrete,
gravel, etc) and whether it's generally slippery when wet, etc. I've
got a ramp I use that in the morning before it gets used alot is fine,
after it gets a good soaking from boats being pulled it gets slippery.

New construction ramps are now all grooved at a 90 degree angle to the
water's edge - you've be surprised at what a difference that can make
towing a boat up a ramp out of the water even when wet.

wrote in message ...
On Apr 1, 2:37 pm, "D-unit" wrote:
"Robert M. Gary" wrote in ...

I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

I may have a similar issue to deal with this year. I keep a boat (21' Carolina skiff)
in a neighborhood with a boat ramp. Travel from my place to the ramp
is 3 blocks. I'd like to *attempt* to load and unload the boat with my
Honda Accord. (try not to laugh). It would keep me from driving
a gas guzzler to/from said beach place (approx. 160 miles) *and*
keep me from having to leave a pickup truck down there solely for
that purpose which is what I did last year. I don't think loading the
boat into the water would be a problem. I like to shuttle back/forth
to the beach house in the Honda for obvious reasons.

The ramp is not very steep and there's very little tongue weight by
the trailer.. Ramp wetness would probably be an issue.

Falling tide = wet ramp
Rising tide = dry ramp. (most of the time when I would use it)

db~still trying to decide if this is a good idea.

See my above post... Wind = wet ramp, lot's of traffic does too.
Washed up vegitation, mud, and anything else you can think of makes
for what you are calling "wet ramp", too...

Sliding back down the ramp into the water is not a pleasant thought.

db

On Apr 1, 3:50*pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:03:52 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
On Apr 1, 12:36*pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

A big variable with front wheel drive cars is the incline of the ramp.
If the ramp is steep you'll get less traction. Other variables are
total weight of boat, tongue weight, what the ramp is (concrete,
gravel, etc) and whether it's generally slippery when wet, etc. I've
got a ramp I use that in the morning before it gets used alot is fine,
after it gets a good soaking from boats being pulled it gets slippery.

New construction ramps are now all grooved at a 90 degree angle to the
water's edge - you've be surprised at what a difference that can make
towing a boat up a ramp out of the water even when wet.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The day I slid back I was at Baldwin Bridge, at the mouth of the CT
River, beautiful cement ramp, slotted, grooved, studded with metal
grip plates.. But with 2 inches of that sea grass, I might have well
been on a hockey rink, a tilted one Like I said, street tires, I
would have been swimming, had some pretty aggressive tires on the jeep
back then.

On Apr 1, 4:25*pm, wrote:
On Apr 1, 3:50*pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:





On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:03:52 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
On Apr 1, 12:36*pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires..
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.

-Robert

A big variable with front wheel drive cars is the incline of the ramp.
If the ramp is steep you'll get less traction. Other variables are
total weight of boat, tongue weight, what the ramp is (concrete,
gravel, etc) and whether it's generally slippery when wet, etc. I've
got a ramp I use that in the morning before it gets used alot is fine,
after it gets a good soaking from boats being pulled it gets slippery.

New construction ramps are now all grooved at a 90 degree angle to the
water's edge - you've be surprised at what a difference that can make
towing a boat up a ramp out of the water even when wet.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The day I slid back I was at Baldwin Bridge, at the mouth of the CT
River, beautiful cement ramp, slotted, grooved, studded with metal
grip plates.. But with 2 inches of that sea grass, I might have well
been on a hockey rink, a tilted one *Like I said, street tires, I
would have been swimming, had some pretty aggressive tires on the jeep
back then.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

True story. Lake Center Hill, TN. The lake gets lowered a LOT by the
TVA in the fall. The place where we stay when we go in Oct for an
annual fishing trip with some GA guys and some Cleveland guys has a
ramp that is nice when the water is high, but the part that is still
in the water in Oct. is steep as hell! My first time there, I've got
my Jeep Cherokee with boat attached. All of the guys are out fishing,
they got there the day before. I look at that ramp and think JEEBUS!
But, then I think hell, my buddy Paul's boat is much heavier than mine
and he musta put his in okay...... So, I back 'er down the ramp, and
the trailer is so steep that I have to let out a LOT of winch strap
and the boat is out in the middle. I pull it back with a bow rope,
then pull my jeep and trailer out. Later all of the guys are back,
fire is going, drinking a beer and eating. I said something about that
damned ramp. Paul says you didn't put your boat in there yourself did
you?? Yep, I did. The office has a four wheel drive tractor with that
they put them in with for you when the water is that low!!